The appeal of “fresh faces” in media: “Heated Rivalry” versus “Wuthering Heights”

After the runaway success of “Heated Rivalry,” Connor Storrie and Hudson Williams’ lives will never be the same.  

“Heated Rivalry” is a six-episode adaptation of Rachel Reid’s eponymous novel, released in 2019. The saga follows the secret relationship between professional hockey players Ilya Rozanov and Shane Hollander, whose on-ice rivalry grows into romance. The show was slated to air on Crave, a Canadian network, but in November 2025, HBO Max acquired the series and secured its overnight sensation status. Viewers appreciated the fresh take on queer romance that the show offered, helmed by the immediate likability of both Shane and Ilya and the actors portraying them. 

The casting story itself feels like a Hollywood fairy tale. Storrie and Williams were virtually unknown actors, working as waiters in Los Angeles, when they landed their breakout roles in “Heated Rivalry.” The novelty of these actors made them that much more magnetic for the audience, as viewers got to know Storrie and Williams alongside their characters. Because the actors were new faces, they carried no established reputation, typecasting baggage or history of controversy, creating a blank slate for their performances. Thus, they were exempt from audience pre-assumptions. 

Emerald Fennell’s adaptation of Emily Brontë’s novel “Wuthering Heights,” featuring seasoned actors Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi, is a cautionary tale in relying on household names to round out a project. Robbie has played Barbie, Harley Quinn and Tonya Harding, while Elordi has played brooding playboys and football quarterbacks in prestige television and independent cinema for nearly a decade. It is practically impossible to watch their performances and only see Cathy and Heathcliff; their celebrity personas inevitably shape audience expectations before the film even begins. The casting of Elordi specifically disregards Heathcliff’s racial identity as a brown man, which is integral to the conflict of the story. Fennell’s reliance on star power has a direct relationship with the overall weakness of the script. The movie was more similar to a perfume advertisement than a complex love story. 

Sometimes, casting an A-lister is simply the right choice when their talent matches the director’s needs. From a publicity standpoint, household names can also draw audiences,  boost box office revenue and generate awards attention. For instance, Zendaya only has seven minutes of screen time in “Dune: Part One,” but the marketing team featured her in all promotional content because she is a sure bet. 

The balancing act between casting seasoned actors and newcomers also reverberates at a craft level. Actors who are no strangers to the lead role tend to be less effective when building new character identities. It can be more difficult to immerse oneself in a fictional world when the actors’ faces are familiar. For example, I found it difficult to watch Jeremy Allen White play Bruce Springsteen in “Deliver Me From Nowhere” because I could only see him as Carmy from “The Bear.”Typecasting only intensifies this effect, as actors become synonymous with certain character types. 

Casting new faces allows audiences to encounter characters on their own terms. In “Heated Rivalry,” the novelty of Storrie and Williams encapsulates the show’s trailblazing ethos. The show highlights queerness in the hockey world, a hypermasculine, often homophobic milieu. Their off-screen story — two hardworking actors trying to make it in Hollywood — is more compelling than millionaire actors on their fifth blockbuster film. Relatability is an actor’s currency: if they spend it all, audiences will stop paying attention.

Since the show’s success, Storrie and Williams have given countless interviews, appeared on “Saturday Night Live” and begun navigating the challenges of sudden fame. Audiences will be paying attention as they discover their personas as up-and-comers and where their careers take them.